Spike.



C. M.-WIGKHAM.

SSSS E.

APPLICATION nun SEPT 1111111 1,099,683. v 1 Patented Apr.7, 1914,

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CHARLES M. WICKI-IAM, OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

SPIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 6, 1911.

Patented Apr. 7, 1914. Serial No. 647,859.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Cniumns M. WIOKHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rockford, in the county or Winnebago and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Spikes, of which the following is a specification.

I The invention relates more particularly to spikes for securing railroad rails to wooden cross ties, and its general ob ect is to prevent the accidental pulling out or the working loose of the spikes by the jars and strains on the rails and this, without increasing the cost of manufacture or the weights of the spikes.

Other objects will appear and be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the spike. Fig. 2 is a side View thereof. Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1 of a modified form of spike.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, 5 indicates the shank, the front and rear faces of which converge at one end so as to provide the point or sharpened edge 6, and 7 indicates the head at the opposite end of the shank. 8 indicates a portion of the head which overhangs the front face of the spike so as to engage the rail flange in the ordinary manner. 9 indicates a series of transverse notches in one side face of the shank and 10 a similar series in the opposite side face and preferably formed in alternate arrangement with the notches 10. The floor 11 of each notch constitutes a shoulder and is perfectly fiat and extends through the side front and rear faces in a plane at right angles to the long axis of the shank, whereas the side Wall 12 of each notch inclines downwardly and inwardly to the inner ends of said shoulders. Each shoulder of one side bein located centrally between a pair of shoul ers on the opposite side faces.

From the foregoing it will have been observed that the planes of the several shoulders are at right angles to the horizontal plane of the sharpened edge or point 6. When it is remembered that the sharpened edge enters the wood crosswise of the grain thereof and the fibers are compressed laterally to admit the entering of the spike, it will be manifest that when the spike is driven home the fibers of the wood as they tend to assume their normal positions will enter the notches 9 and bear upon the shoulders 10, whereby, to interlock the spike with the tie and prevent the withdrawal thereof by the ordinary strains to which the rails are subjected.

In the form shown in Fig. 3, the shoulders 14 increase in width progressively from the upper to the lower notches 15 in each series. In support of this structure it may be stated that when the spike is in the cross tie and the fibers, by their tendency to approach each other, have arranged themelves 1n the notches 15, the fibers in the upper portion of the tie or adjacent to the upper surface thereof will be under greater tension than those in the notches farther down on the spike for the reason that the upper notches are, owing to the narrowness of the upper shoulders, more shallow than the lower notches. This will have the effect of produclng a tighter grip on the upper end portlon of the spike than on the lower, whereby, the tendency of the spike to Wabble under the lateral stresses produced on the head by creeping or springing of the rails will, in a great measure, be overcome and at the same time the upper end portion of the spike will be strengthened over and above that it would be if the upper notches were of the same depth as the lower, whereby, to prevent bending of the upper end portion as the spike is being driven into the Although I have shown and described one 10 plane with said side faces, and said shoulders increasin in width successively from the upper to t e lower end to effect a tight grip on the upper part of the spike for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aflix-my signa- 15 ture in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES M. WICKHAM.

Witnesses: i

A. L. JoYoE,

CHARLES A. WIGKHAM. 

